


A Simple Gesture Of Comfort

by GreenMeridian



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Boris, Don’t copy to another site, Fluff, M/M, conveniently abandoned vaseline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 15:01:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19770679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenMeridian/pseuds/GreenMeridian
Summary: It occurred to him only as he felt Valery’s hand hesitatingly rest on his shoulder later that evening that he had allowed the man to see him vulnerable on multiple occasions.





	A Simple Gesture Of Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Boris was not a man to hide his anger or frustration in public. He felt no shame over his outburst regarding the robot, no guilt over the shattered phone that fell limply from his hand to the poisoned earth. No, it was other emotions that he kept hidden. He had been behind his desk long enough, been playing the game long enough to know that rage was acceptable, even useful when it came to maintaining your position in the Party but any emotion that couldn’t be washed away with vodka or a spot of mindless violence against inanimate objects could leave you vulnerable. And Boris was a man who did not like to be vulnerable.

It occurred to him only as he felt Valery’s hand hesitatingly rest on his shoulder later that evening that he had allowed the man to see him vulnerable on multiple occasions. For whatever reason, the usual degrees of self control and self awareness common to all good Party men had disintegrated in Valery’s company and not once had Boris felt it was anything other than natural. The silence of the moment stretched on, Valery’s warm hand lightly squeezing his shoulder and his own ragged breathing slowly returning to normal. It had hit him again here, in the privacy of the hotel room they worked from, how fucking shit the situation was. How ultimately futile it all was. The miners would die and the State wouldn’t give a shit. Countless Byelorussians and his fellow Ukrainians would die too young and suffer for generations. And they too would die, along with Khomyuk, and nobody would give a damn about that either.

“I’m sorry, Boris” Valery said softly, breaking the silence. His thumb began moving, stroking back and forth across the polyester of Boris’ shirt. Boris closed his eyes, letting himself get lost in the simple gesture of comfort. He had not realised how alone he had been feeling, nor how much he needed physical contact, but Valery had noticed and was reacting accordingly. Valery cared about him. He opened his eyes and turned to look at the hand on his shoulder and stood abruptly. He had come to a decision that he wasn’t even aware he was making. One that, now he thought about it, felt inevitable.

“Come, Valera, let’s take another walk tonight.”

——————

“I’ve read your file, you know,” he said. He heard the sharp intake of breath from the man next to him, heard the falter in his steps.

“Boris, I didn’t-, I wasn’t-...”

“Some indiscretions at university, though nothing since then. At least not that they noticed, anyway. Youthful mistakes, Valera?”

Valery took a shuddering breath and Boris’ chest clenched. He didn’t want to scare his friend, didn’t want him to think that he was going to throw him to Charkov’s wolves but he had to know. Had to be sure before he crossed that line.

“No,” came Valery’s almost whispered answer. “Not mistakes.”

Boris cast his eyes around, catching sight of their friends smoking at the end of the street. He cupped a hand around Valery’s elbow and steered him around to walk back to the hotel. Unlike the soothing silence they’d shared earlier in the hotel room, the air between them now was charged. It was only when they reached the elevator that he finally spoke.

“Follow me,” he said with a gentle squeeze of his friend’s arm, before hitting the button for the wrong floor. Valery stared silently at the elevator panel for the entire journey up, before dutifully following Boris down the corridor. He said nothing as Boris produced a skeleton key he’d pilfered from an abandoned maid’s cart at the start of their stay, said nothing as he opened a door and tugged Valery by his sleeve into the abandoned room. The door clicked closed and for a brief, terrifying moment, Boris felt that he’d made some terrible mistake that would cost him this unexpectedly important friendship. Then he saw Valery’s hand slowly reach out towards his face and cup his jaw.

“Please tell me I’m understanding this correctly Boria, I don’t think I could bear it if I wasn’t,” said Valery. His voice was soft but steady, blue eyes fixed on Boris’ own. Boris slid a hand behind Valery’s neck, tangled his fingers in his hair, and forced their lips together.

Kissing a man, it turned out, was quite a bit different from kissing a woman. Valery’s lips were not plump, Boris’ hands had no curves to slide over, no breasts were pressing teasingly to his chest. And yet it felt better than he’d ever imagined it could. Valery’s hands were large, undeniably male, and gripping his face and his back with what Boris decided to think of as ferocity. He wasn’t passively accepting Boris’ own desire. He’d been imagining this too, wanting this too. Wanting him. Valery took a step forward and Boris felt his back hit the wall, a shock of lust shooting through him. With women he was naturally the aggressor and the few times he had allowed himself to acknowledge this part of himself and imagine, he was never in a submissive position. But Valery’s body forcing his against the wall, Valery’s tongue dominating the kiss, it felt right. He found himself suddenly able to let go of all the tension he’d built up through the day. He didn’t have to be in charge here. Valery would take care of him.

He slid a hand down Valery’s back and took a handful of his arse, pushing the other man’s hips against his. Valery’s mouth suddenly left his to kiss where his jaw met his neck and he moaned unashamedly.

“I wish I could bite you here,” Valery muttered into him, scraping his teethagainst his skin. “I’ve thought about it a lot.”

Fingers pulled at his tie, unbuttoned his collar, pushed his shirt to one side and teeth sank into the flesh of his shoulder, hard enough that Boris was sure he would have a mark, one hidden where only the two of them would know. The pain of it fuelled his lust, and knowing that Valery had claimed him like this was arousing enough to take him to full hardness.

“I had no idea you were... like me. That you would want this,” Valery murmured against the bite.

“I’ve never done this, Valera,” Boris rasped out. He felt the other man still in his arms. Valery pulled back and looked at him, concern flashing through his pale eyes.

“Borja, if you don’t want to–”

“I do,” he said, cutting him off. “God Valera, do you have any idea–” and then he himself was cut off with a fierce kiss, and one of Valery’s hands grasping desperately at his belt, fumbling the buckle loose, before the man sank to his knees and stared up at Boris with open hunger. Boris found himself frozen and speechless as Valery unbuttoned him and slid his suit trousers down his thighs.

And then Valery gifted Boris with what he was certain was the most unexpectedly erotic moment of his life. He leaned his face forward, pushed it into the underwear covering Boris’s aching erection and _inhaled_ , releasing a moan that was positively filthy. His mouth closed around the head of Boris’ cock, sucking at the wet patch on his briefs.

“I’m too old to stay on my knees like this, Borja,” Valery said, mouth still against the fabric as though he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. Boris grabbed the hand that was grasping his thigh and tugged the man to his feet. It was only a few stumbled steps to the bed, and with a split second decision, he spun them around so Valery hit the bed first and climbed on top of him.

He kept his mouth securely fasted to Valery’s, enjoying each little moan into his mouth as he made his way down the buttons of Valery’s shirt, before loosening his trousers and tugging uselessly at the fabric until Valery got the hint and shimmied himself loose.

No turning back now Boris, he thought to himself as his hand closed around Valery’s cock. No pretending that it was all just morbid curiosity all these years. You want this. Valery bucked up into his hand and made a desperate little grunt. He pulled away from Valery’s lips and looked down at him, and stroked his hand up once. Valery’s mouth dropped open, his eyes fluttered shut, and Boris had never felt more powerful and more vulnerable in his entire life.

“The file was correct,” Valery bit out with obvious effort. “There’s been nothing since...”

Boris froze. Valery was practically as virginal as he was in these matters, if it truly had been that long. All those years, Valery had had nothing but his own hand, nobody to give him pleasure. Why was that thought arousing him so much? Why was being the first person to touch him like this in so long such a heady feeling? His mind spun slightly and he felt suddenly emboldened despite his inexperience.

Boris slid down Valery’s body until his head was level with the erection in his hand. A touch thicker than his own but not quite as long, the head near-purple and a bead of fluid gathered at it’s tip. Hair the same colour as his head at the base of it, and hair so blonde it was almost translucent covering the plump testicles. He could smell the other man’s musk, all masculinity and want and desperation, and he understood why Valery had inhaled his scent. It was intoxicating, so much so that he couldn’t help but press his nose to Valery’s swollen testicles and breathe deeply, feeling a throb of need in his own balls as he did. All these years and he had never imagined that he could enjoy another man’s body as much as this. He licked a stripe up Valery’s scrotum, savouring the slightly salty taste and the feel of wiry hair and wrinkled skin under his tongue as Valery writhed and hissed out his name.

“Take your shirt and vest off, I want to see you,” said Boris. Valery’s hands hesitated on his unbuttoned shirt for a moment.

“I’m not much to look at,”

“I don’t care. For god’s sake man, let me see you,”

Valera took a deep breath, as though he was steeling himself. Boris watched reverently as Valery removed his glasses and clothing, and the pale, freckled body became bare to him. He stripped his own shirt and vest from his body and stood to slide out of his trousers and briefs before climbing back on top of Valery and settling his body against his. Valery’s skin was soft, the small amount of hair on his belly even softer. They were naked now in more ways than the obvious, and for all the arousal he was feeling, for all he wanted to just grind his cock against Valery’s until they came, he needed to savour the feeling for a moment.

“You’re going to have to take the lead here Valera,” he said, claiming the other man’s mouth roughly without giving him a chance to answer. Valery gave as good as he got and slid a hand to Boris’s arse and squeezed, scraping his nails over his flesh.

Valery broke from the kiss and Boris took the opportunity to plant kisses along his jaw. “I don’t know how long I can... god, let me take care of you first, please,” said Valery, voice tight.

Boris pulled off Valery, feeling raw at the loss of skin contact. He rolled to the side and hit the mattress, as Valery lay next to him, fists clenched at his sides and breath shaky. He cast a glance over at his friend, and Valery’s eyes were closed. His lips moving slightly. He was counting to ten, Boris realised. Fuck, he was trying to get himself back from the edge. Boris felt a flash of pleasure go through his cock at the thought of Valery being so worked up for him, so aroused. When Valery had steadied himself, he rolled on top of Boris and kissed him, before shuffling down and taking Boris’s cock in his mouth without warning. Boris swore loudly at the shock of it, thankful beyond belief that he didn’t have to worry about KGB bugs. It would have been impossible to stop himself from crying out, and harder still to cut off the long, low moan slipping from his lips as Valery enthusiastically sucked him deeper into the unbearable warmth of his mouth.

Boris quickly tangled his fingers in Valery’s hair, desperate for some sort of anchor. Valery’s tongue swept across his slit on every upstroke and he could feel himself bumping the back of Valery’s throat with every descent of the man’s head. It was beyond intense, not just the physical sensations but the knowledge that it was a man doing this for him. That it was this man, this reserved, awkward scientist who was earnestly swallowing him down and making little noises of pleasure as he did so. He never would have expected Valery to be so uninhibited, and the idea that he had brought out this hidden animalistic side of the man was almost as arousing as the act itself.

Boris felt his balls begin to tighten and tugged on Valery’s hair to warn him. Valery pulled off completely and the sudden feeling of cool air on his wet, sensitive skin made him curse. Valery looked at him hungrily and Boris felt nervous tension shudder through his body at the sight of it.

“Boria, I want....”

Boris blinked at Valery, his mind taking a little while to process what had been said to him through the fog of pleasure clouding it. He had asked him to take the lead, but was he really prepared to let Valery do what he was certain was being asked of him?

“I trust you Valera,” he said with certainty. Because of course he did. This stubborn, infuriating scientist was the man he trusted the most, and he could trust him with this. He could trust him with his body, with his heart. He could trust him to help him cross this boundary between what he felt, admittedly foolishly, was acceptable and unacceptable levels of homosexuality.

Valery took a moment to stare at him, the level of eye contact startling from the usually shy man, and Boris saw a small smile and a look of utter affection form on his face.

“Wait here,” he said, before he climbed off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Boris lay still, erection surprisingly still hard despite the feeling of apprehension at the thought of what was to come next. He heard the sounds of Valery moving things around in the bathroom, before the man reappeared and placed a tub of petroleum jelly next to him.

“Someone must have left it here, during the evacuation,” he said, shuffling his feet slightly and wringing his hands. He looked uncomfortable, scared even. Boris reached out and took his hand.

“We... we really don’t have to do this, Boria. I don’t... it’s ok if we don’t. It’s fine.”

“I want it,” Boris said, intending to reassure the man, and shocking himself at how true the words felt as he said them. “I want you,” he growled, desire deepening his voice. He tugged Valery onto the bed, on top of him, and pulled him down into a kiss, relishing the feeling of their bodies pressed together. Valery moaned into the kiss and ran a hand down Boris’ side and grasped his hip possessively. With obvious effort, he pulled back from the kiss, and rested his forehead on Boris’.

“I need you to turn over. It will be... easier.”

Boris swallowed and nodded slightly. Valery climbed off him and he rolled over onto his front, took a deep breath, and positioned himself with his head on his folded hands against the mattress and his arse in the air. He forced himself not to shiver. He felt faintly ridiculous being on display like this and was, despite himself, slightly afraid of what was to come next. He heard the lid of the petroleum jelly being unscrewed and couldn’t stop the flinch. A soft, unbearably tender kiss was placed on his lower back while a hand stroked his thigh.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes. Do it,” he said, bracing himself for the inevitable pain of Valery entering him. And yet it didn’t come. Instead, a slick finger came to rest on his entrance. He didn’t have a chance to ask Valery what he was doing, the feel of the finger beginning to gently massage his hole took his breath away. It felt so incredibly bizarre, and yet he felt nerve endings he’d had no prior awareness of flare into life and send shivers through him. He let out a deep, guttural moan. Valery kissed his back again, and the finger slipped past his muscles and into his body. It didn’t hurt as such, but it wasn’t really pleasurable either. And then Valery began slowly sliding it in and out of him, adding a little twist occasionally. The drag of it against his entrance was like nothing he had ever felt before and he swore under his breath.

“Oh god Boria,” he heard Valery moan. “You feel so... oh,”

Boris reflexively clenched around the finger at the sound of arousal in Valery’s voice, eliciting another moan, almost pained this time. The finger slid out of him, but before he had a chance to protest, Valery slid two inside him and all he could do was curse. He could feel a slight burn from the stretch, and he felt oddly full, which he couldn’t decide how to feel about. Valery resumed thrusting his fingers into him and the burn only seemed to enhance the sensations he had been experiencing with the single finger. Valery seemed to be pushing against his walls, stretching him, and it suddenly hit him that he was being prepared to take Valery’s cock.

A jolt of pleasure shot through him without warning as Valery crooked his fingers slightly, and he cried out. His cock hung heavy and leaking between his now shaking legs and he felt his knees go out from under him.

“Valera...” he said weakly. “Do it now.”

Valery cursed softly behind him and he felt the two fingers slowly slip out of him. He rolled over, suddenly certain that he would not enjoy this at all if he couldn’t see Valery. They looked at each other for a beat, until Valery’s eyes clenched shut as he started slicking his cock with the jelly. His pale body was flushed, and Boris was quite sure he’d never seen anyone look quite as beautiful.

Valery positioned himself between his thighs and Boris wrapped his legs around the other man’s waist. Valery slipped a trembling hand between them and Boris felt the tip of Valery’s cock come to rest against his entrance. They both took a moment to gather themselves, before Valery pushed forward gently, the thick head of his cock sliding past Boris’ muscles and into him, until he could feel Valery’s balls pressing against his arse.

“Oh... I can’t...” hissed Valery, his eyes clenched shut and his face turning red. Boris could focus on nothing but the painful, satisfying stretch of Valery’s thick cock, the feeling of fullness, the heat of it inside him. He rocked his hips gently, rapidly becoming desperate for movement as the sensations started to overwhelm him. Valery choked out his name, and tentatively pulled out a little, before plunging back into him, both of them groaning in unison.

“More...” gasped Boris, and Valery complied by beginning to thrust into him slowly, rhythmically. Boris gripped Valery’s hips, pulling the man into him. Valery’s eyes were still tightly closed, his mouth slightly slack and his breathing shallow. He was already close, thought Boris. Already on the edge. The thought was arousing beyond belief, his poor Valera so untouched for so long that he was close to losing already. He was the first man in decades to experience this side of him or be touched by him. It was a powerful feeling.

“That’s it, fuck, just like that Valera. Keep going,” he growled encouragingly and Valery’s thrusts got a little stronger as his control clearly started to slip. Boris grunted with every thrust, feeling his cock rub against Valery’s belly and feeling Valery’s balls slap against his arse.

“I can... it can be better,” Valery forced out, shifting his position slightly so his cock rubbed hard against the front wall of Boris’ passage and the jolt of pleasure he’d experienced while Valery was stretching him hit again tenfold. Boris swore loudly and grabbed at his neglected cock, desperate to feel more. Valery kept fucking him, kept dragging over that same amazing spot inside him and Boris knew he wasn’t going to last either. His cock was leaking constantly now, his balls were tight and he needed to come.

“Open your eyes, look at me. Look at what you’re doing to me,” he growled. Valery obeyed, eyes twitching open and locking with his for a brief moment before he let out a pained, guttural moan and slammed into Boris hard, hips grinding wildly against Boris’ arse and cock pulsing inside him. Boris pumped his cock furiously, chasing his own release and when it hit, the clenching of his hole around Valery’s oversensitive cock caused the other man to shiver and moan weakly. Boris shot spurt after spurt of his release over himself, bulldozed by the force of it. When he was finally spent, Valery’s arms gave way and he collapsed on top of Boris, uncaring of the mess. They both grunted as Valery’s softened cock slipped free of Boris’ hole and Boris felt his cock twitch weakly at the feeling of Valery’s seed escaping him.

They lay together for a while, letting their breathing settle down to normal, until Boris shoved Valery off him so he could stagger to the bathroom for a towel to wipe them both clean. The twinge in his arse he felt was satisfying in a way he wasn’t expecting, and the trickle of Valery’s fluids down his thigh made him wish he were a younger man, ready to go again at a moment’s notice.

They lay side by side when he was done, fingers entwined, though he couldn’t remember which of them initiated it. And for a while, nothing existed but the two of them. No reactor, no abandoned town, no politics, no poison eating at them from the inside. Just two men listening to each other’s breathing and savouring the afterglow together.

“I was 12 when I first realised,” Valery said quietly. “A boy in my class, I had dreams about him. At first I didn’t think anything of it, I’d never even heard of men like me. But then I heard jokes from older boys about faggots and queers and I knew. I didn’t act on it until university. I met another boy like me. I don’t know how we knew about each other’s predilections but we did. We were sensible at first, only in our dormitories when we knew we’d be undisturbed. But we got lazy, stupid. Rumours started about how much time we spent together. How we looked at each other. And then his roommate walked in on us laying together like this. I don’t know what happened to him, but he left school later that week. Nobody could prove anything but when has that ever mattered? My father had influence, smoothed everything over for me, and it was all forgotten. And I never gave in again. Until now.”

Boris turned his head to look at the man beside him. “And why now?”

“Because it’s you, Boria. Because it’s you. Because we’re here. Because...”

Boris tugged at Valery’s hand until he rolled to face him and kissed him deeply, slowly. He knew Valery was about to say “because we’ll be dead soon” and he didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want to bring that here, into their sanctuary. He turned away from Valery, shuffling back against him until Valery slid an arm under his neck and slung the other over his waist. They had to get up, eventually. They couldn’t hide here much longer without raising suspicion. But for now at least, Valery could hold onto him, and he could relax in his arms and ignore the world.

**Author's Note:**

> thegreenmeridian.tumblr.com


End file.
